The Parliamentary Representation of Stamford from Edward IV to Henry VII

Abstract

In the late fifteenth century, Stamford - a town on the estates of the dukes of York and therefore in the hands of successive queens of England - began to send representatives to parliament only from 1467, following the charter of incorporation in 1462. This study of the persons selected to represent the town shows that for the first years (1467 to 1483), the town chose royal servants with strong local interests, especially the holders of a royal estate within the town who were present in every parliament from 1467. This estate was granted by the king to the borough by a second charter in 1481. Thereafter, the MPs were all closely associated with what appears to have been the development of a ‘party’ within the town, members of the gild of St Katherine which had links with the household of Lady Margaret Beaufort, the king’s mother, at Collyweston nearby. The leading light was her councillor, Christopher Browne esquire, merchant and courtier of Henry VII, who moved out of town and became one of Rutland’s gentry. Among his group of lawyers, estate agents and rural gentry was David Cecil, grandfather of William lord Burghley. Few local merchants were chosen as MPs during this period. Biographies of the MPs are provided.